Sputnik V’s 3M doses arrive in Hyderabad, largest vaccine consignment in India

The biggest commercial consignment of Sputnik-V vaccines arrived in Hyderabad on Tuesday early morning at 3:40 am with three million doses delivered to Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. The vaccines will be later sent to different parts of the country as per the demands raised by the state governments. After COVISHIELD and COVAXIN, Sputnik-V will be the third COVID-19 vaccine that will be administered to the people.

This came as a major relief after the shortage of vaccines being reported in various states. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had granted permission for restricted emergency use of Sputnik V with certain conditions.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday that Delhi is likely to receive the first consignment of Sputnik-V in June while stressing that vaccination is key to the fight against coronavirus. “Sputnik will probably offer vaccines after June 20. They will start the vaccine production in the month of August. They are importing the vaccines right now, and they will allot a section of their imported vaccines to the Delhi government,” he said.

When did the first batch of Sputnik-V arrive?
The first batch of Sputnik V landed in Hyderabad on May 1 and it contained 1,50,000 doses of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine. On the arrival of the first batch of Sputnik V, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories CEO Deepak Sapra responded on the number of doses and when it will be available for inoculation drive. “This is the first shipment and it contains 1,50,000 doses. This one goes through certain statutory clearances after that is done in a week it will be available,” said Deepak Sapra adding that ‘it will be available in two to three weeks.

Just like India-made COVISHIELD, which is AstraZeneca-Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik-V is also based on a modified version of a common cold virus. As per The Guardian report, Russia’s vaccine against the novel coronavirus is tailored in a way to carry genetic instructions for making the coronavirus spike protein and ‘triggers and immune response’ for protection against COVID-19. Republic TV